Link City

Going Down *

Chapter 20: Going Down

Skye reacted before I even fully registered what was happening. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hanging off as his body continued to rise. Jesse let out a strangled cry of pain. Obviously attempting to keep his shoulder from being pulled from its socket, he grabbed the cuff with the other one as well. Skye's weight did not appear to be enough however as they were still rising. Doing the only thing I could, I wrapped my arms around Skye's middle. Hooking my toes on the edge of the door, I attempted to pull them both back into the safety of the hall.

With me as her anchor, Skye dared to remove one of her arms and grab the edge of the door. Together we hauled Jesse back through the opening, and the three of us collapsed on the ground.

“What happened?” Romeo almost seemed to materialize at Jesse's side.

Skye groaned. “Elevator's magnetic, cuff's magnetic; Jesse almost got his arm pulled off.”

Romeo then did the unexpected thing, he laughed. “Do you realize what this means?”

I looked at him, confused.

“We've got the answer to the next problem. Jesse, Dustin, and the rest of the prisoners in solitary have these cuffs. The lift is magnetic so anything metal should work if we get it going in the up direction.”

I got to my feet, still not fully understanding.

“How do we do that?” Skye asked. “There are no elevator controls down here. The agents have to call up. It's a safety measure I think.”

“So what? People with the cuffs can go up and hit the button, clear the guards. Jesse and Dustin can handle it.” He slapped his twin on the back. “Right?”

Jesse looked thoughtful. “That could work.” He looked over at Dustin. “What do you think?”

My friend, we actually looked much better, nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

I wasn't sure how much I was into Romeo's plan. Lord knows how many agents and were waiting for them at the top. Plus what guarantee did we have that the cuffs wouldn't cut out at random and drop them to their deaths?

“We can bring a couple others with us.” Jesse must have noticed my concern on my face.

“I'll go ask around.” Skye offered.

And she was off, and Jesse and Dustin were discussing the best way to get up the shaft, and there was nothing I could do. Instead, I began to search around for some metal. Sure there were a fair number of cuffed prisoners, but at the most it was twenty. There were far too many to be carried up. In the hospital room I discovered that the bed frames were made of metal, and began to organize their dragging out into the hall.

Jesse and Dustin were taking two other prisoners with them. I watched, concerned, as they distributed the bombs.

“Hey.” Someone giggled. I turned my head towards the source of the sound. “Hey Nance.”

Lela leaned against the wall, smiling. She gestured me towards her. Her injured leg bent slightly, her toes brushed the ground. One arm steadied her against the wall. I hurried over to her. She kept beckoning me until my face was uncomfortably close to hers. The goofy smile was gone, and she suddenly looked hauntingly serious. Realizing what she wanted me to do, I leaned in so that she could whisper something in my ear.

“Nance, Nance.” She repeated my name, placing one hand on each of my shoulders. “The twins are so attractive.”

She uttered the words then dissolved into giggles. I made sure to wrap an arm around her back to keep her from collapsing to the floor in a laughing fit.